The NEOWISE Comet from The California Suburbs and Countryside

The NEOWISE Comet from The California Suburbs and Countryside

Andrew Nelson
Site Visits

For the month of July, our planet was visited by a remarkable comet. Its brilliance was too dim for my naked eye, either because of light pollution or because I was witnessing it as it was dimming. Still, with the camera, it pops! There is something special for me about getting to see such an uncommon event from the hometown why my astronomical interest began. This is what guided me to taking the photograph above from that exact vantage point. While the best skies I’ve ever seen were in Australia and the Sierra Nevada mountain range, I’m excited to share these photographs.

Landscapes of Dublin and Pleasanton California

Landscapes of Dublin and Pleasanton California

Andrew Nelson
Architecture Story

This is not going to be the traditional architecture stories that I have shared in past publications. Instead, I want to publish a photo essay, which means just showing photos and not having to do much work to write down what I see in them. I am working on my next post, which will be about settler colonialism and its influence on the history of my hometown, Danville. Also, this is me! You know me. Of course, I’m going to do some deep-dive research to discover a fascinating fun fact to give insight to what I documented. I haven’t researched it yet though. I plan to share that at the bottom of the essay, so you have that to look forward to.

Back in California / Reflection on a Historic Photograph of this Moment

Back in California / Reflection on a Historic Photograph of this Moment

Andrew Nelson
Site Visits

I’m back in California. It has been disorienting to move back, adjust to both a nine-hour difference in time zones, and the new normal of living with lockdown in a town I had never really been familiar with, despite bordering the town where I grew up. So I wanted to share just a few of the photos from this series, and put into text the emotions I had during the process. I hope to create a more robust portfolio of this work later. For now, I want to focus on texture.

I’m Moving Back to California

I’m Moving Back to California

Andrew Nelson
Website Update

Hi friends, family, and all other readers. I have news!

I have been living in Southeast Asia, mainly Singapore, for the last year and a half. My parents live in the region, so I have been staying with them and traveling elsewhere. But this period is coming to an end tomorrow. I’m flying to San Francisco on the 21st, and will be in quarantine at a hotel in the Bay Area until I can get tested. In short, I’m moving back to the Bay Area after seven years away.

Seattle’s Central Library by OMA

Seattle’s Central Library by OMA

Andrew Nelson
Site Visits

I remember the first time I saw this building. I was with my parents, visiting my dad when he was working in the Seattle area. It must have been the late 2000s or early 2010s. We were driving through the city, my nose glued to the window as I often do as a passenger. When we drove past the structure, I was in disbelief at first. It looked like a glitch in the matrix. My parents were fairly oblivious to the situation which made it feel all the more surreal, as if I was hallucinating. And then it was gone. I had felt as if I had been shown this absurd reality and would have to internalize it forever. It wouldn’t be for a few more years before I saw photos of it. A friend from Portland posted something about that library being their favorite building on the West Coast. That’s when I learned it was a library, and that I could even go in!

Eden by Heatherwick

Eden by Heatherwick

Andrew Nelson
Site Visits

Eden is the product of Heatherwick Studios and Swire Properties. Standing 20 stories tall, it offers 20 luxury apartments for a potentially resilient market overlooking the especially affluent Ardmore neighborhood in Singapore. The building’s design plays on the theme of Singapore as a garden city. The architect referred to the founding Prime Minister of Singapore, Lee Kuan Yew, who had hoped Singapore to be like a ‘city in a garden.’ This mantra has been a powerful rallying call for the city in the 21st Century, and this building is certainly carrying on that tradition.

A Morning in Hoi An

A Morning in Hoi An

Andrew Nelson
Site Visits

For today’s post, I again want to be brief so that I can get to the point and share my photography. Last December, in the before times, when travel felt sensible, I visited the Vietnamese port city of Hoi An. The historic center has been a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 1999, as it retains much of the same infrastructure and architecture from its history as a significant trading port from the 15th to the 19th century. This photo series represents a morning in town.

Exploring Guinea Bissau

Andrew Nelson
Exploring Google Maps

Lockdown has taken a massive hit on my productivity. While I usually write updates to Site Visits at a cafe or library, I have been stuck at home for nearly a month. However, I have discovered one pleasant thing. I can still be productive with videos! So, for today’s post, I want to share a new YouTube channel extension for Site Visits.

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